W&L Law Review Named Top 10 Journal by Article Submission Service ExpressO

By Peter JettonOctober 3, 2014

The Washington and Lee Law Review, a student-run journal publishing the work of top legal scholars and its student editors, has made the top 10 list released by ExpressO, one of the leading systems for journal article submission.

The Law Review placed 6th on the list of top 100 most popular law reviews chosen by authors using ExpressO, based on 2013 submission data. The Law Review has capitalized on this ranking with the launch of a new website that greatly expands the journal’s digital offerings, including the second issue of its online companion, the Washington and Lee Law Review Online.

ExpressO’s Law Review Submissions Guide 2014–15, which features the rankings, emphasizes the “online shift” in access to legal scholarship. According to the Guide: “Increasingly, legal scholarship is being discovered through free online sources like law review websites, bepress, or SSRN over web subscription services like Hein, Lexis, and Westlaw.” The Guide also notes that authors benefit significantly from this trend because “ith greater visibility and discoverability, citation rate grows and downloads actually increase dramatically over time.” The full Guide is available online.

The Law Review hopes to be on the leading edge of this online shift. In addition to digital access to the journal’s traditional print content on the new website, the editors of the Law Review Online have created a number of categories for online exclusives that will be published with greater frequency than the print edition. These offerings include articles on new developments in the law, online roundtables arranged around specific topics, and a platform for responses to articles published in the print edition.

The first online roundtable highlights recent changes in the virtual currency realm. Titled “Crypto-Currency 2.0,” the roundtable features pieces by Prof. Edward Castronova (Indiana University), Prof. Shawn Bayern (Florida State University College of Law), Prof. Sarah Jane Hughes (Indiana University Maurer School of Law), and Prof. Joshua Fairfield (W&L), each examining developing issues in the crypto-currency world.

Also contributing to the second online issue is adjunct professor and alumnus Lawrence (Chip) Muir ’03L, who provides a development article on the recurring problem of cybercrime committed by State-controlled cyberunits. According to Prof. Muir, such operations frequently occur with impunity under the present mix of international and domestic law. He proposes that the U.S. shift its cyberlaw enforcement strategy and pursue national interest diplomacy to negotiate a trilateral “cyber-treaty” with Russia and China.

The Washington and Lee Law Review Online’s next publication will feature a response piece by Prof. Mohsen Manesh (University of Oregon School of Law). Prof. Manesh focuses his research and scholarship on the intersection of corporate, contract and LLC law. In this piece, he responds to an article titled “The Dwindling of Revlon” by Prof. Lyman Johnson (W&L Law) and Robert Ricca ’06L, published in the Law Review print edition.

First published in 1939, the Washington and Lee Law Review presents articles contributed by leading scholars, judges and lawyers, as well as essays and student notes. It is published quarterly by students of the W&L School of Law. The Washington and Lee Law Review Online was founded in 2014. It is currently accepting submissions for the Winter 2014 edition. For more information, please visit the “Submissions” page on the new website.